China syndrome

American  

noun

1. a hypothetical nuclear-reactor accident in which the fuel would melt through the floor of the containment structure and burrow into the earth.

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Etymology

Origin of China syndrome

First recorded in 1970–75; from the jocular notion that the hot reactor core would pass through to the other side of the earth

Example Sentences

The report implies that the so-called China syndrome, in which the reactor core melts and burns its way into the earth, releasing potentially catastrophic radiation, had been a possibility at T.M.I.

From Time Magazine Archive